Jogger for plural bin receiver

ABSTRACT

A paper jogger integrated with a collating device or the like wherein a plurality of sheet collations are simultaneously longitudinally and laterally jogged towards mutually registered positions. Elongated jogging members are employed which extend along one side edge of the collated sheets and which are adapted to be orbited in a path so as to swingably engage the said side edges of the sheets and thereby longitudinally and laterally urge the latter towards engagement with opposed stationary aligning surfaces. In this manner not only may the sheets in each collation be aligned with one another in superimposed relation but also the various collations may be located in the same corresponding positions adjacent one side of the bin assembly for ease of withdrawal from the bins. This two-way jogging action may be carried out after a new sheet is added to all the collations and/or after completion of the formation of all the collations, and is terminated when said elongated members are disposed in a position such that they do not interfere with the subsequent feeding of additional sheets into the collator bins.

United States Patent 1191 Brown et al. Oct. 7, 1975 JOGGER FOR PLURALBIN RECEIVER [75] Inventors: Michael A. Brown, Norwalk; Frank [57]ABSTRACT ggs Stamford both of A paper jogger integrated with a collatingdevice or the like wherein a plurality of sheet collations are si- [73]Assignee: Pitney-Bowes, Inc., Stamford, Conn. multaneouslylongitudinally and laterally jogged [22] Filed: Feb. 8, 1974 towardsmutually registered positions. Elongated jogging members are employedwhich extend along one [21] Appl. No.: 440,721 side edge of the collatedsheets and which are adapted to be orbited in a path so as to swingablyengage the 52 US. Cl. 271/221- 271/173 said Side edges of the Sheets andthereby longitudinally [51] Int. Cl. B6 5H 31/38 and laterally .urge the.latter towards engagement with [58] Field of Search 271/221 222 173 64'statonary f Surfaces this manner 2 not only may the sheets 1n eachcollation be aligned with one another in superimposed relation but alsothe [56] References Cited various collations may be located in the samecorresponding positions adjacent one side of the bin assem- UNITEDSTATES PATENTS bly for ease of withdrawal from the bins. This two-way1,448,301 3/1923 HOtChklSS 27l/22l jogging action may be carried utafter a new heet is 3,356,362 12/1967 Mestre 271/173 added to all thecollations and/or after completion f 2223:: at the formation of all thecollations, and is terminated 3,774Z906 11 /1973 Fagan et al. 271/64when Sam elongated members are imposed a Primary ExaminerEvon C. BlunkAssistant ExaminerBruce H. Stoner, Jr. Attorney, Agent, or Firm-WilliamD. Soltow, Jr.; Albert W. Scribner; Martin D. Wittstein tion such thatthey do not interfere with the subsequent feeding of additional sheetsinto the collator bins.

3 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures US. Patent Oct. 7,1975

JOGGER FOR PLURAL BIN RECEIVER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In theoperation of a sheet collating machine it is most desirable to have thesheets in each collation in lateral and longitudinal registeredcondition when the collations are ready for removal from the sheetassociating machine. Further, it is desirable to have the tinishedjogged collation in a position where it can be easily grasped by themachine operator and removed from the machine. However, in conventionalsheet associating machines, sorting devices and the like wherein sheetsare sequentially fed to a plurality of individual shelves or bins, thesheets that accumulate in each bin do not always come to rest in exactlyoverlying or mutually registered condition. Provision of bothlongitudinal and lateral jogging and locating actions for the collatedsheets heretofore proved difficult principally because of the highdegree of inaccessibility of the sheets due to the relatively highphysical density of bins, plates, guides, struts and other elementsnormally associated with a collator bin assembly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The instant sheet associating device isprovided with a plurality of inclined and closely vertically spacedbins, and a paper jogging means which extends through the various binsand is adapted to engage one side edge of all the sheets in said binsand urge said sheets towards engagement with opposed stationary aligningsurfaces that are disposed adjacent to other sides of said sheetswhereby all the sheets become mutually registered and located in apredetermined position in the bins. Each collator bin is constructed andarranged so that some of said aligning surfaces are movable toinoperative positions to allow removal of the sheet collations and sothat the direction of withdrawal of each jogged collation from itsassociated bin is substantially normal to the direction in which thesheets making up said collation are fed into said bin.

It is the primary object of the instant invention to provide a novelcollator bin and jogger combination whereby several collations may beregistered and located in a predetermined manner so as to make possiblethe efficient subsequent handling thereof.

A further object of the invention is to provide a simplified bin andtwo-way sheet jogging arrangement whereby collated sheets may belaterally and longitudinally urged towards a plurality of cooperatingstationary sheet aligning surfaces.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the arrangement of theapparatus embodying the instant invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view, partially enlarged, illustrating the nature ofthe details of the drive means for the instant orbiting sheet joggingmembers.

FIG. 3 is a sketch illustrating the construction and inclineddisposition of the sheet receiving bins of the instant collating device.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1 the instantbin and sheet jogging combination is embodied in a sheet associatingmachine, the sheet receiving bin assembly of said machine beinggenerally indicated at 10. In that the construction of bin assembly isconventional (except as is otherwise hereinafter described) only a verygeneral description thereof will be made here. Assembly 10 includes abox-like frame 11 on which is mounted a plurality of closely spacedsheet receiving shelves or bins 12a, 12b, 12c, etc., the plane of eachof these bins being disposed at a small angle 13 with respect to ahorizontal plane 14. Sheets of paper or other material are fed into therespective bins by any suitable sheet transport means (not shown)located at the sheet entry end 15 of said assembly 10 as is indicated bythe arrows 16. This loading of the individual bins is accomplished inmost cases by the delivery sheets into one bin after another in verticalsequence, and by this progressive distribution of sheets to thesuccessive bins l2 sheet collations are thereby generated in each ofsaid bins.

At any time during the sequential feeding of sheets into the bins it maybe desired to laterally and longitudinally jog the sheets in each bin sothat said sheets become aligned with one another in mutual superimposedrelation. To this end the farther side 20, as seen in FIG. 1, of the binassembly 10 and the corresponding side of each individual bin 12 aremade open, i.e., there are no obstructing frame members or side platesfor each bin on said side which interfere with the easy manual lateralwithdrawal of sheet collations from the respective bins 12. Further thebottom plate portion of each bin 12 is formed with a lateral recessindicated at 21 of FIG. 2; these recesses being vertically aligned alongsaid side 20 so as to be capable of receiving therein an elongatedvertically disposed and normally stationary abutment post 22 having aninner vertically extending sheet aligning surface 23. The post 22 isswingably mounted in gate like fashion on the bin frame by means of anupper arm 24 and a corresponding lower arm (not shown), which arms aresecured to a vertical shaft 25 that is pivotally supported on the binassembly 10 in any suitable manner. A spring 26 is provided for biasingsaid post and arm arrangement 22, 24 to the normal closed or stationaryposition illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 wherein said vertical aligningsurface 23 is disposed closely adjacent to the inner edges of said trayrecesses 21 thereby providing a stop and aligning edge for effectivelydetermining the lateral positionment of the collated sheets at said side20 of bin assembly 10. The normal position shown for the post 22 isdetermined by engagement of arm 24 with a suitable stop 24a, FIG. 1,carried by the bin assembly 10.

The apparatus for jogging the sheets in bins 12 comprises a pair ofcrank means 30, 30a. Crank means 30 includes upper and lower axiallyaligned shafts 32 and 33 that are rotatably mounted in suitable bearingssecured to the upper and lower bin frame members 34 and 35 respectively.Crank arms 36 and 37 are secured to shafts 32 and 33 respectively andhave their outer ends interconnected by a vertically disposed crank rod38 that extends through enlarged vertically aligned circular holes oropenings such as 40 formed in the bottom plate portion of each bin orshelf 12. The crank assembly 30 is adapted to be driven by an electricmotor 44 that is coupled to shaft 33 while the crank assembly 30a, whichis constructed and arranged in a manner similar to that just describedfor assembly 30, is adapted to be driven from crank assembly 30 throughany suitable conventional type belt and pulley arrangement 45. Theorbital movement of the crank rod 38, as indicated by arrow 50, is inphase with the corresponding motion a of rod 38a. An electrical switch52 is suitably mounted on the machine frame in a position so as to bemomentarily actuated by a portion of the swinging movement of the outerend of the crank arm 37a; this operation of switch 52 serving to controlthe de-energizing of the motor 44 so that the crank rods 38, 38a willterminate their orbital motions when in positions farthest away fromsaid side of the bin assembly 10. In this way the crank rods willnormally be located so as not to interfere with the feeding of sheetsinto one or more of the bins 12.

During operation of the instant sheet associating machine sheets to becollated are successively fed into said bins as indicated by arrows 16.As each sheet arrives in a bin it will tend to come to rest by slidingslightly downwardly under the action of gravity towards the lower frontvertical abutment wall 56 of the bin as illustrated in FIG. 3, so thatthe entire lower edge of the sheet engages said wall 56. Thislongitudinal positionment of each sheet in its associated bin is notassured however in that any given sheet either may not slide all the waydown into engagement with wall 56 and/or it may become slightly skewedwith no part thereof, or perhaps only one corner thereof, contactingwall 56 as is indicated by the dotted lines S of FIG. 2. It will be seenthen as sheets accumulate in each bin they may not come to rest ineither lateral or longitudinal overlying alignment with the next lowersheet in the bin and hence will need to be jogged lengthwise andsidewise into positions of mutual registry, as denoted by the solidlines S, in order to produce a desired even-edged collation prior to thetime of withdrawal of such collations from the bin. This two-way joggingaction is accomplished by initiating operation of motor 44 at a timewhen the feeding of sheets into the bins is interrupted. Operation ofmotor 44 serves to cause crank rods 38 and 38a to partake of theircounter-clockwise (as seen in FIG. 1) orbital movement 50, 50a, theeffective radius and location of this orbital movement being such as tocause said rods 38, 38a to engage the adjacent side edges of all thesheets in all the bins and reorient and urge the same towards both thesheet aligning surface 23 of said post 22 and towards the respectivelower front walls, such as 56, of said bins. This lat era] andlongitudinal jogging action of the crank rods tends to finally positionall the sheets in all the bins in mutual registry wherein the entirefront edge of each sheet is in engagement with the front wall of theassociated bin and the side edge of each sheet is in lateral engagement,or very close to such engagement, with the lateral aligning post surface23. The driving of crank rods 38, 38a may be terminated by operation ofsaid switch 52 after either one revolution of the crank assemblies orafter several such revolutions as optionally determined by a suitablecontrol circuit 57. This control circuit may be conventional in natureand need not be further described here.

When the generation and jogging of the various collations in therespective bins has been completed the lateral aligning post 22 may bemanually swung, as indicated by arrow 58, to an open position so thatall the collations which are now jogged and disposed adjacent the saidside 20 of the bin assembly are very accessible. The side edges of thesecollations are most exposed in the region of said bin recesses 21 whichfacilitates the grasping and lateral withdrawal of the collations by themachine operator. It will be noted that the direction of withdrawal ofthe collations from the bins is substantially normal to the direction inwhich the sheets are fed (16) into the bins, this arrangement allowingthe machine operator to stay effectively on one side of the equipmentwhile operating the latter. After removal of the various collations thepost 22 may be spring urged to its said normal closed or stationaryposition preparatory for the next series of sheet associating andjogging operations.

The instant bin and sheet jogging arrangement thus affords an efficientmeans for the production of laterally and longitudinally registeredcollations, these jogged collations additionally being advantageouslylocated at the side of said bin assembly for ease of manual withdrawal.

What is claimed is:

1. A collating machine: comprising a frame;

a plurality of vertically spaced sheet receiving bins carried by saidframe;

each of said bins having a sheet receiving end, and each being inclinedupwardly and rearwardly from said sheet receiving end thereof;

a longitudinal sheet abutment means positioned along the said sheetreceiving end of each of said bins;

a common lateral sheet abutment means carried by said frame andextending substantially vertically along one side of each of said bins,said lateral sheet abutment means being pivotably biased about a pivotfor movement towards and away from said side of said bins to allow foreasy access to each bin;

said lateral and longitudinal abutment means respectively normallydefining lateral and longitudinal limits for movements of sheets in saidbins;

said bins having a series of aligned apertures formed therein;

a common crank rod extending through said apertures so as to be capableof engaging the edges of sheets in said bins;

means mounting said crank rod for orbital movement in said aperture soas to be capable of engaging and urging sheets in said bins towards saidlongitudinal and lateral sheet abutment means and thereby into mutualregistry; and

drive means for operating said crank rod.

2. Apparatus as defined by claim 1 wherein a second series of binapertures and a second crank rod are provided which are similar to saidfirst mentioned apertures and crank rod; and wherein a belt and pulleydrive arrangement is operatively connected between said crank rods.

3. A collating machine: comprising aframe;

a plurality of vertically spaced sheet receiving bins carried by saidframe;

each of said bins having a sheet receiving end, and each being inclinedupwardly and rearwardly from said sheet receiving end thereof;

a longitudinal sheet abutment means positioned along the said sheetreceiving end of each of said bins;

a common lateral sheet abutment means carried by said frame andextending substantially vertically along one side of each of said bins;

means for mounting said lateral abutment means for movement towards andaway from said side of said bins; I

said lateral and longitudinal abutment means respec tively normallydefining lateral and longitudinal limits for movements of sheets in saidbins;

' said bins having two rows of aligned apertures formed therein; a pairof common crank rods extending substantially parallel to each other andeach extending through one of said rows of apertures so as to be capableof engaging the sheets in said bins at two separate drive means foroperating said crank rods.

1. A collating machine: comprising a frame; a plurality of verticallyspaced sheet receiving bins carried by said frame; each of said binshaving a sheet receiving end, and each being inclined upwardly andrearwardly from said sheet receiving end thereof; a longitudinal sheetabutment means positioned along the said sheet receiving end of each ofsaid bins; a common lateral sheet abutment means carried by said frameand extending substantially vertically along one side of each of saidbins, said lateral sheet abutment means being pivotably biased about apivot for movement towards and away from said side of said bins to allowfor easy access to each bin; said lateral and longitudinal abutmentmeans respectively normally defining lateral and longitudinal limits formovements of sheets in said bins; said bins having a series of alignedapertures formed therein; a common crank rod extending through saidapertures so as to be capable of engaging the edges of sheets in saidbins; means mounting said crank rod for orbital movement in saidaperture so as to be capable of engaging and urging sheets in said binstowards said longitudinal and lateral sheet abutment means and therebyinto mutual registry; and drive means for operating said crank rod. 2.Apparatus as defined by claim 1 wherein a second series of bin aperturesand a second crank rod are provided which are similar to said firstmentioned apertures and crank rod; and wherein a belt and pulley drivearrangement is operatively connected between said crank rods.
 3. Acollating machine: comprising a frame; a plurality of vertically spacedsheet receiving bins carried by said frame; each of said bins having asheet receiving end, and each being inclined upwardly and rearwardlyfrom said sheet receiving end thereof; a longitudinal sheet abutmentmeans positioned along the said sheet receiving end of each of saidbins; a common lateral sheet abutment means carried by said frame andextending substantially vertically along one side of each of said bins;means for mounting said lateral abutment means for movement towards andaway from said side of said bins; said lateral and longitudinal abutmentmeans respectively normally defining lateral and longitudinal limits formovements of sheets in said bins; said bins having two rows of alignedapertures formed therein; a pair of common crank rods extendingsubstantially parallel to each other and each extending through one ofsaid rows of apertures so as to be capable of engaging the sheets insaid bins at two separate points along one edge thereof; means mountingeach of said crank rods for orbital movement in said apertures so as tobe capable of engaging and urging sheets in said bins towards saidlongitudinal and lateral sheet abutment means and thereby into mutualregistry; and drive means for operating said crank rods.